


Watch These Hands

by kenwaylights



Category: Assassin's Creed, Watch Dogs (Video Game)
Genre: American Sign Language, Deaf Character, Deaf Reader, Deaf Reader Insert, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Other, Reader-Insert, Reader-Interactive, doesn't come in till the end, gender neutral reader, tiny tiny crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-04
Updated: 2016-02-04
Packaged: 2018-05-18 05:11:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5899483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenwaylights/pseuds/kenwaylights
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jacks has a new friend he met at school whose dad's side of the family is Deaf and whose mom is an interpreter. Nicky and Aiden make friends, too. Aiden gets more than he bargained for originally.</p><p>Written about Deafies, for Deafies, by a Deafie.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Watch These Hands

**Author's Note:**

> Hello yes another Deaf!reader fanfic brought to you by a Deaf author! A few notes:  
> -The title, as with the last Deaf!reader, is inspired by a Sean Forbes song because #DeafTalent  
> -ASL slang is utilised here ("pehpeh" and "trubiz" - "pehpeh" is like "I see, I feel you, I get it" and "trubiz" is kind of like "for real, for sure, definitely, seriously" in these contexts)  
> -Your gender is never specifically addressed and no third-person pronouns are used (she/he/they/etc.), so readers of all genders are welcome here  
> -The level of deafness is also never specifically addressed, so no matter the level of profoundness, use of assistive technology or lack thereof or whether you have an accent or not, I wrote it so it could still fit

He had met you when Jacks was hanging out with his new friend.

“This is Ava,” Jacks had introduced the girl.

“Hi, Ava. I’m Aiden,” he’d said, holding out his hand for the child to shake.

She did. “Nice to meet you,” she said while moving her hands strategically.

Aiden looked at his nephew, who explained, “Ava speaks American Sign Language. Her dad and his family are Deaf, so Ava grew up with ASL _and_ English. Cool, right?”

“Ahh, very cool.” It was almost four o’clock. Kids were leaving rapidly. “Where are your parents, Ava? Are they gonna pick you up soon?” He didn’t want to leave this tiny girl all by herself.

“My ride is here!” she exclaimed excitedly, pointing at someone behind Aiden.

He turned to see you as you got out of the car and approached Ava, waving and grinning.

You signed to her, “Who are your friends?”

She replied, “Jackson and his uncle, Aiden! Jackson is in my English and math classes.”

“Very cool!” You finally reached the trio and stood in front of them.

Aiden put his hand out to greet you. “Hi, I’m Aiden. Jacks’ uncle.”

You shook his hand and glanced at Ava, who told you, “He’s just introducing himself. Same thing I said.”

“Hi,” you simcommed your response, both fingerspelling your name and providing your name sign. You weren’t particularly good at lipreading but you hoped for the best. Guy seemed like a mumbler. “Nice to meet you. I’m sorry my brother couldn’t make it, he got tied up at work.”

“Your brother?”

“Ava’s dad.” You made it sound like it should have been obvious.

“Oh. Right. Of course.”

* * *

 

Aiden saw you again exactly two months later when Nicky was working and he had to drop Jacks off at Ava’s. They were going to play video games, Jacks had said.

You opened the door and greeted Jacks warmly. “Hey, Jacks! How are you?” you simcommed.

“I’m good, how are you?” Jacks replied, also simcomming (although less successfully due to his minimal experience).

“I’m great. Ava’s upstairs, you know where to find her. Sodas are in the fridge.”

Jacks slipped past you and you looked at Aiden.

“Hi,” he offered a bit awkwardly.

“Hi,” you replied, trying not to smirk.

“Uh… Video games, huh?”

You took a moment to piece together what he had said. “Yeah, Ava’s really into the _Assassin’s Creed_ series right now and apparently Jacks has the newest one. So he offered to bring it over and play with her.”

“That was nice of him.”

“Yeah, he’s a good kid.”

“Thanks. I’ll be sure to tell Nicky you said that.”

You chuckled. “Do you want to come inside for a minute?”

“Uh… Sure.” _Be careful. Scope out the place for Jacks’ and Nicky’s sakes,_ he told himself.

A black and white Labrador/border collie mix bounded up to Aiden, sniffing him vigorously before licking his hands and pressing into his legs for pets. Another laugh from you: “That’s Snowflake. She likes people. Do you want anything to drink?”

“Cream soda, if you got it.”

“Hell yeah, that’s my favourite.” You slid a can across the counter in his direction and popped the tab of your own. He did the same.

“Where’re Ava’s parents?” he asked, looking around.

“They both work full-time during the day. I do night shifts on weekends, so I watch Ava and house-sit,” you replied, shrugging slightly and leaning on the counter.

“Oh. Okay.”

“It occurs to me that I don’t really know you, but you’re around a lot. I should probably get to know you.”

“What do you _want_ to know?”

“Whatever you’re willing to tell me.”

“How about you ask questions and I answer. But for every question you ask, I get to ask my own question. How’s that?”

“Fair enough.”

You asked him benign questions at first, like his favourite colour, favourite dessert, pastimes, dogs versus cats, all that jazz; then the questions were weird or awkward, but not harmful — “What was the most embarrassing date you ever had?” “What was your favourite game as a kid?” “What was the best job you ever had?”

In turn, he asked you about your job, how close you were with Ava, your relationship with Ava’s parents, your thoughts on the presidential candidates (cautiously so as not to offend you, but you took it in stride), your hobbies, and finally, “Are you married?”

“No. Are you?”

“No. Divorced?”

“No. You?”

“No. Seeing anyone?”

“No, why? Are you?”

“No, I’m not.”

“So why are you asking?”

_Well, I can’t say I’m probing you for any potential threats to my family. No. Can’t say that. So… What should I say…_

At that moment, Aiden’s phone buzzed. “Hello?”

Jordi’s voice came through the other end. “Hey, buddy. D’you think you could swing by real quick?”

“Why…?”

“It’s a...long story. Tell ya when ya get here. Text ya the address. Bye.” And he hung up without any explanation.

You looked at Aiden expectantly, one eyebrow raised.

“I, ah… I gotta go. My friend needs something,” he said apologetically.

“Oh. Okay. Well, I’ll watch the kids. Make sure they don’t get into any trouble.”

“What time should I be back here?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I can text you when Jacks wants to go home or something?” You held out your phone for him to insert his contact information.

“Oh. Yeah. Good idea. Uh… Here.” He tapped the screen quickly. _I could run a scan on the phone and have it sent to mine. Do I have time? It’ll be suspicious if I take too long._ So he decided against it.

You took your phone back and typed something before sliding it into your pocket.

Aiden’s phone vibrated and he looked to see a text message from you.

_Here’s my number so you have it. Just don’t call me...for obvious reasons. ;)_

“Heh. Cool. Thanks. Lemme know when Jacks is ready to be picked up.”

“Will do.”

* * *

 

Nicky had insisted that Aiden come along to work at the school Halloween party.

“Nicky,” he sighed. “There’s gonna be cops there. No doubt about it. There’s at least _one_ cop kid in every school.”

“And the cop parents are too busy running herd on the older teenagers who’re out on the streets tonight. It’ll be fine,” Nicky promised. She glanced over at his phone — he was on some website with an ASL dictionary. “What’s that for?” she asked teasingly.

“Don’t be nosy.”

“Is that for Ava’s family?”

“Yeah,” answered Aiden in defeat.

“What’s her dad’s name again? Andy, right?”

“Alex. Alex and Leila. Ghostwriter and ASL interpreter. Forty-six and thirty-nine. Moved to Chicago in June.”

“Huh, look at you. Didn’t know you hit it off with them… Or… Never mind, you hacked ‘em.”

“I hacked ‘em.”

“Old habits die hard, I guess. Hey, maybe your little friend will be there.”

“My...my what?”

She dropped your name in the way two teenage siblings would tease each other about crushes; the same way she had teased Aiden about his first crush at thirteen years old.

“Knock it off, Nick.”

“Oh, come _on_ , Aiden! You two would be _so cute._ ”

“Nicky, there is no way in hell.”

“And why not?”

“I am _not_ dragging another person into _my_ bullshit.”

“Maybe it doesn’t have to be that way.”

“What other way would it be?”

“Better. And less dangerous. Besides, Jacks and Ava are best friends. You have an excuse to go over and talk that’s not stupid like ‘can I borrow some sugar.’”

“Hmm.” Aiden crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat.

“Uncle Aiden,” Jacks said as he sat down on the floor with his tablet.

“Yeah, bud.”

“I love you, but you’re dumb,” signed Jacks.

“And that means...what.”

Jacks snorted and spoke his proclamation in English.

“Hey, don’t you sass your uncle,” Aiden grumbled (playfully, though, because he knew Jacks meant it affectionately).

The thirteen-year-old stuck his tongue out and went back to playing a game on his tablet. “You gotta brush up on your signing, though.”

“I have the most important ones down.”

“Oh yeah?” chorused Nicky and Jacks in unison.

“Yeah, watch.” Aiden rubbed his hands together and signed, “Hello. My name is Aiden. Where is the bathroom? Thank you. Fuck off. Goodbye.”

“That’s not gonna help you get a date,” teased Nicky.

“Who said I wanted one? You know I’ve only spoken to this person twice, right?”

“Three times counting tonight,” Jacks reminded.

“You hush, you little punk.” Aiden tossed a crumpled-up napkin at his nephew, who dodged and stuck his tongue out again.

“Hey, kiddo, shouldn’t you start getting into costume?” asked Nicky. The teenager darted to his room to change.

“Please don’t tell me adults have to dress up too,” groaned Aiden.

Nicky grinned wickedly.

“No _._ ”

“Please?”

“ _No._ ”

“The cop parents won’t recognise you.”

“Fucking…” Aiden rolled his eyes and sighed. “What is it?”

Okay, so it wasn’t actually that bad. It was Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad from the first _Assassin’s Creed_ game. Wasn’t too goofy-looking or anything and actually fit pretty comfortably.

When the trio arrived at the school, Jacks immediately linked up with Ava while a staff member assigned Nicky and Aiden to different jobs. Nicky got ticket-taking duty and suggested that Aiden, not well-known by the school faculty, take a food prep/service job. “He doesn’t talk much,” she said.

Aiden tried not to roll his eyes.

Nicky elbowed him in the ribs and pointed with her chin. You were at the station to which he was assigned.

“Goddammit, Nick,” he mumbled.

“You’ll thank me later,” she whispered.

Aiden approached the table looking apologetic for whatever reason. “Hi,” he waved.

“Hi!” you waved back cheerfully before signing, “Happy Halloween!”

“Thank you, you too,” Aiden signed back slowly once he registered what that combination meant. “How are you?”

“I’m great. I’m having fun. How are you?”

“I’m fine.”

You pouted slightly. “Just fine?”

“Yeah, I’m not good with parties.” _Right? Shit. Did I sign ‘party’ right? Shit. Shit shit shit._

“It’s not hard. Just enjoy yourself.”

 _I guess I was understandable._ He was also quite pleased with himself for understanding what you had signed. _Nice, Pearce._

“Assassin’s Creed?” you asked, surveying Aiden’s costume.

“Yep. And…” He took a minute to look you over. “Final Fantasy? Right?”

“Very good!” You did hand waves (or Deaf applause) to celebrate a correct guess. You’d spent a crap tonne of time and effort on your costume, thanks very much!

Later on, when it was time to change shifts, you and Aiden were conversing while sipping lemonade.

“You’ve been practicing, I see,” you began.

 _Hmm? Fuck. I know that one. I know it. C’mon, Aiden. Is that ‘week’ or ‘practice’? I think it’s ‘practice.’_ “Yeah, Jacks helps me.”

“Tell him thank you from me.”

“I will.”

“Can I ask you something?”

He tensed. “Yes…”

“Who’s Lena?”

Aiden’s eyes clouded. You regretted asking. “Lena was Jacks’ sister.”

“‘Was’?”

“She...died a few years ago.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Me too. Why do you ask?”

“Jacks talks about her sometimes. I think Ava reminds him of her.”

“Ava what?” Aiden had finally gotten lost and needed simcom.

“I said, I think Ava reminds Jacks of Lena,” you supplied.

“Funny. I’ve been thinking the same thing. But I’m glad he has a friend.”

This conversation had gotten too sad. You needed to change the mood. Looking around, your eyes landed on a pile of cookies in spooky shapes, and you grabbed two. “Bone Zone? Pumpkin?”

Aiden whipped around incredulously. “Excuse me?”

You snorted. “That didn’t come out right. I was trying to be funny. Didn’t work.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” he chuckled. At least you got him to laugh.

“Anyway, which one do you want?”

“I want the skeleton. You can have the pumpkin.”

“Fair enough.”

* * *

 

 

Over the course of the school year, you saw Aiden more and more. Jacks and Ava remained best friends. You and your brother, Alex, were good friends with Nicky. Aiden had become your friend and he was actually getting pretty good at ASL, as were Nicky and Jacks.

You and the Pearce family were at your brother’s big house for a cookout to celebrate the end of the school year. As luck would have it, you’d forgotten to pick up supplies for desserts (your specialty) and you refused to abandon them altogether.

“I’m going to the store to pick up stuff,” you signed to the group.

“You want me to come with you?” Aiden offered. He was almost completely voice-off these days, it was good.

“I’m a big kid, Aiden,” you replied with a chuckle as you walked to your car.

“Maybe you just wanted the company.”

“Hmm… Fine. Why not.”

“Do you want to drive or should I?”

You looked at his car versus yours. He had a convertible? What the fuck. (Courtesy of Jordi, but you didn’t know that.) “You can drive mine but only because I have to write down what I need and that’s hard to do with the wind trying to make my paper fly away.”

Aiden laughed. “Fine.”

When he started the car, loud music started blasting with the bass setting boosted almost to the maximum.

It startled Aiden and he jumped. You burst into laughter at that. “I’m sorry! I forgot to turn it off!” you told him, turning off the radio quickly.

Once the initial surprise had worn off, Aiden rested his neck against the headrest, closing his eyes and chuckled to and at himself. “You’re lucky I like you,” he remarked with a good-natured expression. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“Sorry, sweetheart, but I like to have fun while I drive,” you replied with playful sarcasm. “We don’t all go white-knuckle the minute we get in the car.”

“What’s that sign?”

“Which?”

He imitated the sign for ‘sweetheart.’ “Fingerspell that.”

“Oh.” You waved your hand dismissively and spelled it for him. “It’s like the equivalent for ‘babe’ or ‘honey,’ et cetera.”

He hummed and nodded, though you didn’t hear it.

“I use it all the time, I’m surprised you’ve never seen me sign it before.”

“Well, you’ve stuck to basics until recently.”

“Hey, it means you’re getting better.”

“Trubiz.”

At the store, you marched dutifully through the aisles to obtain supplies for the desserts you wanted to make. On the menu were cherry pie, Texas sheet cake and s’mores. Aiden followed you around like a puppydog, occasionally grabbing things you couldn’t reach or pointing you in the right direction (with a soft chuckle) when you got all turned around.

He paid for your haul even though you said you could handle it. (But your mother always told you to accept free things when they’re offered. ‘More money staying in your pocket,’ she’d say.)

On the walk back to the car, the pair of you argued good-naturedly over who should get to drive. You won because you said you wanted control over the radio ‘and everyone knows _the driver_ is the person in control!’

“The driver should focus on driving,” he fired back with a grin, thinking he had won.

“ _You_ don’t!”

“ _I’m_ an idiot.”

“True, but that’s not a good excuse!”

“It is for me!”

“No!”

“Yes!” He was beginning to laugh now, and so were you.

“ _No!_ I’m driving.”

“Not if I get there first!” Aiden took off at a sprint toward your car.

_Dammit, Aiden!_

You chased after him as best as you could while carrying tote bags on your shoulders. He did, of course, get there first, but only because he was a dirty cheater!

“You dick! That wasn’t fair!”

“How?” The asshole of a best friend was smirking at you as he leaned against the car door.

“I wasn’t ready!”

“Why not? You’ve known me for months.”

“You’re stupid.”

“I know. But you like me.”

“Yeah, you’re lucky.”

“I’m scared,” he signed sarcastically.

“You _should_ be scared! When I was thirteen, I fought a boy who kept drawing penises on my homework and getting me in trouble for it. That boy? _Twice as big as me._ ”

“Pehpeh… Impressive.”

“Yes. Thank you. Now can I drive, please?”

Aiden pretended to think about it, first three fingers bouncing in rhythm like the ellipses that comes up onscreen when someone is texting back. “Fine.”

“Ha!”

After buckling in, you shuffled your driving playlist on your iPod — a mix of songs that all had heavy drums and/or bass that could vibrate your entire vehicle — and started the car. A Lorde song popped up and you could feel the bass in every fibre of your body.

Aiden thought the music was very, very loud, but considering the amount of time he spent in close proximity to firearms and explosives in his life, he wasn’t bothered as much as someone with perfectly average hearing would be. Besides, there was no need to shout to converse here, so it was whatever.

Eyes on the road, one hand on the steering wheel and the other happily signing away lyrics, you were having a whole lot of fun on the drive back to Alex’s.

Aiden watched you and your joyful behaviour with a little half-smile as he leaned back against the headrest.

“Come on, Aiden! You know this one!”

“How do you know I know it?”

“You were playing it in your car when you pulled up to the school for the winter holiday party, remember? I only know this song because of you.”

While not actually verbalising anything, Aiden’s mouth formed the shape it would when saying ‘aw’ and signed your name sign.

“Shut up.” You waved him off lazily.

Back at the party, while everyone was making savoury food, you set to work getting the cake ready to be baked. Your best friend was by your side the whole time, ready to help you if you needed anything. A couple of times, you did ask him to perform tasks for you like grab things when your hands were too dirty to touch anything else and whatnot.

The cake was going in the oven when Aiden handed you a plate of food. He had one for himself that he set down while sitting at the island bar to hang out with you and escape the heat. You leaned on the counter and snacked on your food while making conversation.

“You never told me: why do you always wear that old hat?”

Aiden shrugged. “I like it.”

“Yeah, but it’s getting kind of... _old._ ”

“It’s not falling apart yet. It’s well-loved.”

“I can see that.”

“Hey, how did that date go with the fancy lawyer?”

You made a face. “So-so.”

He raised his eyebrows in question.

“Not really my type, I guess. Too flashy, you know? I don’t like having _too_ much attention on me. Besides… I refuse to rely on lipreading alone for an entire relationship. Hell no.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault. It just didn’t work. Maybe next time.”

“True.”

* * *

 

The two of you were lying in the flatbed of your borrowed truck to stare at the stars.

It’s easier to see the night sky in Pawnee than it is in Chicago.

He likes to come out here at random sometimes. He would text you or send you little video clips explaining that he wasn’t missing or dead, just ‘taking a break from the real world’ and that if you needed him, he was just a text away. You knew he had emotional connections to this place. So you never questioned it.This was the third time you’d accompanied him.

You could practically feel the stress radiating off of his warm body.

“What’s wrong?” you asked, turning to face him.

Aiden sighed. “I’m worried.”

“What for?”

Nothing.

“If you don’t want to talk, that’s fine. But I worry about you.”

A small pause, then: “It’s a lot of different problems that need a lot of explaining.”

“You can tell me.”

“I know.” One. Two. Three. “I’m scared.”

“What’s scaring you?”

“I’ve been feeling weird for about six months now and I don’t want to continue feeling like that.”

“You’re not dying, right?”

He gave you a slightly bewildered look. “No! I…” Another sigh. He sat up and you moved to sit cross-legged in front of him. “I think maybe I like someone. More than like a friend.” Upon seeing your excited face, he continued, “Wait. The problem is: I don’t feel safe having a relationship with that person.”

“Why? What did they do?”

“Nothing, nothing! It’s what _I_ did. I’m not the best person.”

“No one is! But dogs still love you. Your family still loves you. I still love you. So why wouldn’t this person like you?”

“That’s not— Well, now that you mention it, I _am_ worried about that… But I’m mostly scared that I’m dangerous.”

Then it clicked with you.

“Aiden,” you sighed, “is this about the Vigilante business?”

A massive wave of anxiety crashed over him. It took all his willpower to keep his hands from trembling. “How do you know about that?”

A small smile flickered across your face. “You know they closed caption the news channel, right?” He said nothing, so you continued, “Your picture was onscreen while I was changing the channel. So I watched.”

“How long ago did you see that?”

You sighed again, thinking back. “About six months ago.”

_Same timeframe._

Aiden’s heart was painfully hammering in his chest and he thought he might be sick. _Now what the fuck am I supposed to do?!_ In previous situations in which people had found out, disposal had been necessary. They were the gossipy type, there was no way to avoid it. He couldn’t do that to you. Even if he saw no other choice, he couldn’t do it. He gulped.

“I only want to protect my family,” he told you, struggling with anxiety tremors.

“I know,” you replied calmly. “Can I tell you a secret?”

He nodded.

“My family were... _are_ Assassins. My night shifts at Abstergo? Infiltrating and stealing data to send back to base. Alex doesn’t want any part of it, it’s only me now. I get it, Aiden. I do. I really, really do.”

_Well, that changes everything._

“So, you’re not…?”

“I’m not scared, I’m not mad, nothing. Just surprised you thought you could keep a secret from me that long,” you added with a slight laugh. “You were in the database anyway. I recognised your face when I met you. You know they want to make a game about you?”

He laughed shakily. “No, I didn’t.”

Smiling, you reached out and took his non-dominant hand with yours in a comforting squeeze. “It’s okay.” You withdrew and moved on, “Now about that person you like.”

Aiden snorted and shook his head. “You’re mean.”

“Yes, I’m proud of it. What are they like? How do you know them? Are they cute? Do _I_ know them?”

“Slow down!” he laughed. “One question at a time.”

“Cute?”

“Very.”

“How do you know them?”

“We’re friends.”

“Do I know them?”

“Yes.”

You squeaked and got excited. “Name?!” you signed over and over delightedly. You were acting like a puppy whose human parent had just come home. He started laughing at you when you say up on your knees and got close to him. _Deaf people have_ no _sense of personal space._ When you got no response, you gently and repeatedly tapped his cheek like a cat would. “Name?!”

You were tapping his cheeks with such excitement that he had to grab your wrists and hold them away from his face.

“Aiden!” you whined verbally, having lost use of your hands, as you flopped back down and pouted. “Tell me!”

He said nothing, just gave you an affectionate smile as he watched you pout. His hands had absentmindedly shifted to hold yours and his thumbs were running over your knuckles.

And then it dawned on you. “It’s me, isn’t it?”

Aiden blinked slowly, nodded and mouthed the word ‘yeah.’

“Oh, Aiden,” you sighed, trying to repress the big smile you felt on your face. You retracted your hands, causing his stomach to drop for a second until you signed voice-off, “I told you I love you.”

“Like a friend. I know.”

“No, you nerd.” You brought him in for a tight hug. He could feel his eyes getting misty. As you separated, he pressed a kiss to your forehead. You chuckled and teased, “Try that again, lower this time.”

He cocked his head like the dumb puppy he is.

Very, very carefully and gently as if trying not to frighten him, you curved a hand around the back of his neck and kissed him on the mouth.

You could feel him smiling wider than you’d ever seen him smile before.

**Author's Note:**

> Did you guys see the Assassin thing coming? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)  
> Also, Deafies really don't have much of a personal bubble. That weirded me out when I first started participating in my local community. Heh.
> 
> If you have any ideas for future Deaf!readers, please send me a message on my Tumblr. (My username is kenwaylights there as well.)


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